In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wharam et al found that women who were switched from low-deductible to high-deductible insurance policies had delays in diagnostic workup, early breast cancer diagnosis, and initiation of chemotherapy compared with those maintained on...

In a study of data from the National Cancer Database reported in JAMA Oncology, Joshi et al found that two-thirds of patients with node-positive nonmetastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the penis received lymph node dissection and approximately half received chemotherapy in recent years. ...

Patients with lower income have a significantly reduced chance of surviving anal cancer, according to a new study led by investigators at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center published by Lin et al in the journal Cancer. The study shows that both overall and...

On March 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to erdafitinib for the treatment of urothelial cancer.
Urothelial cancer, most frequently in the bladder, is the sixth most common type of cancer in the United States. A Breakthrough Therapy ...

As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine by Jason D. Merker, MD, PhD, of Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues, ASCO and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) have issued a joint review on the status of...

In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Mehralivand et al found that inclusion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in a predictive model may reduce unnecessary biopsies in men with suspected prostate cancer.
Study Details
In the study, a predictive model adding MRI-derived prostate volume...

Mutations in HER2 were found to confer resistance to hormone therapy in some estrogen receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer cases, and resistance could be reversed by dual treatment with the hormone therapy fulvestrant (Faslodex) and the HER2 kinase inhibitor neratinib (Nerlynx),...

Pediatric patients with solid tumors may have poor quality T cells compared to patients with leukemia, and certain chemotherapies were detrimental to the T cells and their potential to become chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, according to data presented during a media preview for the...

An antibody that is present in the blood of women previously infected with the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia is associated with a doubling in ovarian cancer risk, according to data presented during a media preview for the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual...

People in Louisiana communities with cancer health disparities would be interested in participating in clinical trials or submitting samples to biobanks if provided information about these opportunities by a trusted physician—but physicians reported lacking appropriate information to give to...

In an analysis of two pooled studies reported in JAMA Oncology, O’Brien et al found that a complete response to ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia was more likely in patients receiving the agent as first-line therapy and in those without bulky disease....

In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hoerger et al found that patients with a higher proportion of early palliative care visits addressing behavioral coping strategies had improvement in depression symptoms and quality of life. In addition, those with a high proportion of visits ...

In an investigator-initiated phase III SIRveNIB trial in Asia-Pacific patients reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chow et al found no difference in overall survival with selective internal radiation therapy, or radioembolization, vs sorafenib (Nexavar) in patients with unresectable...

Survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer often have stronger social networks than their peers with no cancer history, according to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers, who hope to translate that support into better health outcomes for the nation’s...

On March 13, Merck announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for pembrolizumab (Keytruda), the company’s anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapy. The application ...

As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Tang et al, a Chinese phase III noninferiority trial has shown similar progression-free survival with nedaplatin- vs cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy in patients with stage II to IVB nasopharyngeal carcinoma, with nedaplatin being associated with fewer severe...

In a Canadian retrospective population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bubis et al found that patients with cancer reported higher symptom scores at 1 month after diagnosis and identified several factors associated with higher symptom scores.
Study Details
The study...

Researchers at the University of California (UC), Davis, have shown that patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who received their care at a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer center in California had a dramatically reduced risk of early mortality. Using data from the California Cancer...

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States and the second leading cause of death from cancer. Projections by the ACS show that, this year, about 50,630 people will die from the disease. However, studies...

The current guidelines for mammographic breast cancer screening, which are based on data from primarily white populations, may lead to delayed diagnosis in nonwhite women, according to a report published by Stapleton et al in JAMA Surgery. A team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)...

In an analysis of data from the Breast International Group (BIG) 02-98 trial reported in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, Zeidan et al found that postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) vs no PMRT was associated with significantly reduced risk of locoregional...

New compounds targeting epigenetics have shown early activity in patients with lymphoma, according to data presented at the TAT (Targeted Anticancer Therapies) International Congress 2018 in Paris. The meeting, which focused on phase I research, featured early clinical studies with BET inhibitors...

The level of genomic alterations in genes associated with the oncogenesis of specific solid tumor types is being investigated in patients that have demonstrated an exceptional response to currently approved targeted therapies, researchers announced at the International Congress on Targeted...

In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zardavas et al found that the prognostic effect of PIK3CA mutation in early breast cancer was reduced after adjustment for other prognostic factors.
Study Details
The study involved analysis of individual patient data from a pooled...

In a phase III trial (BrighTNess) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Loibl et al found that the addition of the PARP inhibitor veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel in neoadjuvant therapy did not increase pathologic complete response rate in women with triple-negative breast cancer.
Study Details
...

As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Huet et al have developed a 23-gene expression profile that predicts risk of follicular lymphoma progression.
Study Details
In a training cohort consisting of a subgroup of patients from the PRIMA trial (in which rituximab [Rituxan] maintenance was evaluated...

In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in Leukemia & Lymphoma, Shah et al identified the risk of cardiotoxicity among patients, most with multiple myeloma, receiving carfilzomib (Kyprolis) in clinical trials.
Study Details
The study included data from 4,164 patients who received...

In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Gannavarapu et al found that substantial unintentional weight loss prior to treatment is common among patients with cancer across stages of disease and is associated with poorer outcome.
Study Details
The retrospective cohort study included ...

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have discovered that a combination of high doses of radiotherapy and hormonal therapy provides the best chance of decreasing the mortality rate in men with aggressive prostate cancer. The findings, published by Kishan et al in JAMA, also...

On March 6, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) updating the nivolumab (Opdivo) dosing schedule to include 480 mg infused every 4 weeks for a majority of approved indications.
This approval will ...

In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Lee et al found that measurement of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can help distinguish between pseudoprogression (radiologic progression prior to response) and true progression in patients with metastatic melanoma receiving anti­–programmed cell death ...

An Italian phase III trial (FATA-GIM3) has shown no difference in disease-free survival with 5 years of upfront adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy vs 2 years of tamoxifen followed by 3 years of aromatase inhibitor therapy in women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer. The...

In a phase I trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Burris et al determined the phase II dose of the next-generation PI3Kδ inhibitor umbralisib and found evidence of the agent’s activity in relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies. Umbralisib exhibits improved PI3K isoform...

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Personal Genome Service Genetic Health Risk (GHR) Report for BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants). It is the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) test to report on three specific BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancer gene mutations that are most common in...

An multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor used to treat leukemia has shown promise against a rare and aggressive type of ovarian cancer—small cell carcinoma of the ovary hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT)—that strikes young women and girls, according to a study led by the Translational...

In a Japanese phase III noninferiority trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ito et al found that dexamethasone could be spared on days 2 and 3 in an antiemetic regimen including the neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptor antagonist aprepitant and palonosetron in patients receiving highly...

In a Danish study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Zachariae et al found that an Internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention improved insomnia among breast cancer survivors.
Study Details
In the study, 255 patients from a national sample of Danish breast...

A sizable percentage of elderly patients with blood-related cancers such as leukemia and multiple myeloma are apt to show signs of diminished cognitive functioning—a decline that may impact their survival—a new study by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and...

A study examining prevalence estimates of colorectal cancer screening at the county level in the United States has found that the country is far behind reaching the goal of screening 80% of adults aged 50 and older for colorectal cancer by 2018, which is supported by the National Colorectal Cancer...

Researchers have determined that children and adults with cancer often have different mutated genes driving their disease, which suggests they would likely benefit from different therapies. The finding, from a collaborative study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and published by...

On March 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for the anti–connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) antibody pamrevlumab for the treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer. This follows review of the phase II clinical...

In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Olszewski et al found that 36% of patients receiving novel oral anticancer agents in a Rhode Island academic research center received charity assistance to pay for treatment, including 47% of patients aged ≥ 65 years.
Study Details
The...

As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Wapnir et al, the final analysis of the phase III CALOR trial showed benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in estrogen receptor (ER)–negative but not ER-positive isolated locoregional recurrence of breast cancer.
Study Details
In this open-label ...

In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, McQuade et al found that obesity was associated with improved outcomes in treatment of metastatic melanoma with targeted therapy or immunotherapy—but not chemotherapy—with a survival benefit appearing to be restricted to obese male patients....